Transcript Slide 1 - WikiSpaces

Coordination Games
 Type of Game (Game Theory)
 Players’ payoffs are optimized when they choose
identical or corresponding strategies
 Usually end up with Multiple Nash Equilibria
Motivation
 Information can have a huge impact on productivity and
efficiency
 I want to look at the effects that communication can have
on situations
 By designing the Study Meeting Game, I can look a
simplified situation and examine the importance of
communication and productivity
 My game: Study Meeting Game (no communication
between players)
Outcomes
 Both people don’t meet: They just continue what
they are doing.
 Person 1 doesn’t meet, Person 2 meets: Person 1
continues what he/she was doing, Person 2
pointlessly goes to the meeting.
 Person 2 doesn’t meet, Person 1 meets: Person 2
continues what he/she was doing, Person 1
pointlessly goes to the meeting.
 Both people meet: They are both more productive by
meeting up.
Some Results
 Both players move simultaneously
 The game has two unique Nash Equilibria: where both
players don’t meet, and where both players meet.
 At each of these outcomes, neither player wants to
deviate from their current strategy because doing so
would result in a lower payoff.
 For N.E., both players had to play the same (or
coordinating) strategies; the players almost have to work
together so to speak.
 Also, since there are two N.E. and neither player has a
dominant strategy, iterative deletion would not be
possible.
Sequential Move Game
(10,10)
2
(10,-5)
Player 1
2
(-5,10)
(20,20)
Experimental Evidence
 “There is an abundance of experimental evidence
that subjects will often take actions that are not
apparently in their best interest. In many cases,
these actions may be viewed as attempts to reach
cooperative outcomes” (Cooper et al., 1996).
 Players would be better off if they both played “Meet”
 Players might end up both choosing “Don’t Meet” in
an attempt to cooperate (or minimize their losses)
 We would have to design an experiment to know for
sure
Overall
 Study Meeting Game shows the importance of
information
 To resolve this problem, the players need only
communication
 Communication is huge for efficiency